


Behold, the Conqueror

by phoenix123



Category: Iron Man (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst and Humor, BAMF Tony Stark, Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse - Freeform, Gen, M/M, Multi, Non-human Tony, Supernatural Elements, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony-centric, War!Tony
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-25
Updated: 2018-01-22
Packaged: 2019-02-20 02:26:22
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 16,667
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13137174
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/phoenix123/pseuds/phoenix123
Summary: "And another, a red horse, went out; and to him who sat on it, it was granted to take peace from the earth, and that men would slay one another; and a great sword was given to him."-- Revelation, 6:3-4Tony Stark calls bullshit.





	1. The Awakening; or, Tony is Done with Death's Shit

He wakes up during his time in Afghanistan. Or, rather, he's woken up.

It happens while he’s staggering around in the desert, long having left the armor he and Yinsen built broken and scattered in pieces where he crash-landed. _Yinsen_ , he thinks, and closes his eyes. Yinsen's last words keep playing on repeat in his head, a mantra of  _don't waste your life_ , and all Tony can think about is how blind to the world he was before his captivity. His mistakes run through his mind - the dead soldier who only wanted a picture, the missiles he let fall into the hands of terrorists, and now Yinsen, too - twisting and stumbling the same way his feet do as they sink into the scorching sand.

It isn’t until he face-plants right into the next sand dune that he realizes the unrelenting heat is about to overwhelm him, the world becoming fuzzy and the grit of sand heavy in his mouth. He has to get up, he thinks. He needs to, for Yinsen. So he grits his teeth and narrows his eyes, focusing on the dark spot a couple of yards away from his collapsed figure.

Wait.

What?

Tony scrambles up with as much willpower as he can muster and watches warily as the dark spot coalesces into a figure, slowly making its way towards him. For a moment, he panics. What if it’s one of Raza’s men, who somehow escaped Tony’s armored rampage? He has nothing to defend himself with, much less the energy to run.

As the figure nears, Tony barely makes out a purple cloak. Not one of Raza's then, most likely. Then he notices the literally bone-white color of its face, its jutting cheekbones, wide toothy grin, dark hollows where eyes should be, and…breasts? Standing before him is a cloaked skeleton, and judging by its DD-sized boobs, he’s guessing it’s a she. That’s it, Tony decides. He’s officially lost his mind.

The mysterious figure comes close, and says, “Oh, Brother.”

Tony squints, tries not to think about the logistics of a talking skeleton, and mumbles, “What? Brother?”

Mysterious Figure, as he dubs her, says, “I’m surprised you haven’t awoken yet. Lord knows you’ve been busy enough being the Merchant of Death, and all that.” She brings up her hand to rub at her chin, the cloak falling past her wrist to reveal bleached white bone.

Still trying to convince himself he's hallucinating, Tony says, “Look, Mysterious Figure – can I call you that? – I’ve obviously recently been through a rough patch, and I’d really appreciate it if my hallucinations could at least make some sense.”

The skull’s grin stretches and widens, while he takes a moment to wonder how that’s even anatomically possible. “Could I offer you a nice egg in this trying time?” comes the response, and Tony gapes before he says hoarsely, “That’s what my hallucinations like to quote? _It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia_?”

Mysterious Figure steps back and tilts her head ever so slightly, and Tony gets the distinct impression that she’s rolling her nonexistent eyes at him. “Clearly, Brother,” she says, “this isn’t working. I’ll just wake you up myself, I guess.”

Then, before Tony can even react, she pokes him hard in the forehead with a bony finger.

For a second, nothing happens. Tony's actually surprised he felt the poke, considering that hallucinations tend to be incorporeal. But then Tony feels a pull, like there are hands reaching up and grasping at him, weighing his body down like the heavy press of the ocean that surrounds his Malibu mansion. As the pressure increases past comfortable levels, the arc reactor begins to feel like a 500 pound weight in his chest and his bones feel like they're being compressed, his eyes fluttering shut as he tumbles into darkness...

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

When he blinks back to awareness, he’s again face-down on the sand dune, while Mysterious Figure is still in front of him. No, not Mysterious Figure. Death, his sister. 

“Did it work?” she questions.

Tony - he decides that he wants to keep the name Tony for now, to at least finish out the life he lived - groans, rubbing his head, and stands up with ease. “Thanks a lot for that,” he grouses, “Like I wouldn’t have woken up naturally in a few years. That's not even a long wait for you.”

“I just expedited things,” his sister shrugs, “Besides, I need your help.”

Tony winces. If Death herself needs help, then something’s up. “Why come for me and not the others? I was supposed to be on vacation. Y’know, fun mortal life, women, parties, being able to get drunk, etcetera?”

“It’s more of a…specialized problem. I’ve got this admirer, you see, and he doesn’t realize his affections aren’t reciprocated.”

Pause. “So you’re saying you need me to be the scary older brother who beats off his sister’s suitors with a club? Are you kidding me?”

Death drags a hand down her face, bone on bone making a scraping sound. “I’m glad to see you’re still the same asshole you were before you went on vacation. Thanos is preparing to go to war on this planet to win my heart, so you would be the obvious choice to help me here. I would intervene myself, but Thanos is in possession of certain Infinity Gems. That means neither of us can affect him directly, but you've always been the master tactician. And he would take me decimating his armies as a sign of my interest in him, anyways.”

Rolling his eyes, Tony replies, “Sis, you pick the greatest guys. You sure Pestilence and Famine aren't free instead?"

"They're dealing with things in other universes. Last I heard, Famine just lost his ring."

"Fucking Winchesters." Tony grins. "You know you’re gonna owe me one, big time?”

Death says, dryly, “I’m sure I can handle owing you a favor.” Then, “I gotta go, things to do, souls to reap. Father Time won’t even stop for me these days, that asshole.”

Before she disappears, his sister cups his face with her hand and whispers, “Yinsen is safe with me, Brother War.”

Tony stares at the spot where she faded from existence, thinking again of _do_ _n’t waste your life_ and the light in Yinsen’s dying eyes. But now that he’s been awakened, he knows his sister will ensure Yinsen goes back to his family. He sends a quick prayer Yinsen's way regardless, because having to deal with his sister for eternity will probably make Yinsen want to throw himself off a cliff.

Now with newfound energy thrumming through his veins, he takes a seat on the bank of the sand dune, content to wait until the helicopters he can sense nearing arrive to pick him up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Should I pair Tony off in a relationship? I haven't decided yet, so comments would be nice. I'm kind of partial to Tony/Bucky, but I also want to let the story focus on just Tony.


	2. Iron Man; or, Tony Goes Native

Tony stays slumped in his seat the whole ride back to the States, uncharacteristically silent. He can tell Rhodey’s concerned about him by the firm arm settled across his shoulders, the way he shoots frowns at Tony’s figure when he thinks Tony isn’t looking. Sure, Tony acquiesces, if he were still simply Tony Stark he’d be seriously fucked up right now. But he’s more than that now, and War’s seen much worse things.

No, Tony is quiet the entire trip because his mind is running at light speed trying to organize his plans of action. He decides to keep his new-found identity a secret for now, because despite his penchant for flaunting his power, the last thing he needs is top secret government agencies or religious fanatics hunting him down. His name is War, after all, even if he’s not the bad guy that popular culture seems to paint him as.

As for Death’s request, he scans the universes for Thanos’s movements, eyes flickering behind his closed eyelids. Thanos is only in the beginning stages of his invasion, just starting to amass his armies, and Tony thinks that little problem can be dealt with later.

Then there’s the matter of his life before his awakening. There’s something rotten behind what happened in Afghanistan, and he knows he needs to find out how his weapons got into the hands of Raza’s men. His weapons. He takes a moment to wonder if his choice of business was merely a coincidence, or if his façade as a mortal didn’t hide his essence as well as he thought it did. It would be a simple matter to just get the Ten Rings to wipe themselves out, but where would be the fun in that?

Let’s do things the human way, Tony decides.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Once he’s back in America, it’s a whirlwind of Tony Stark’s affairs.

He decides to stop producing weapons. War exists on Earth regardless of whether Stark Industries is producing weaponry, and Tony already feels guilt over the deaths he’s seen his weapons personally cause. _The dead soldier who only wanted a picture_ _,_ his mind reminds him, and he shakes off that thought with a scowl.

Besides, his power comes from conflict of all kinds, not just war – personal, intrapersonal, whatever. His mind flicks back to third grade when he learned about literary conflict, a room full of children chanting _man vs self! man vs nature! man vs man!_ , and he smirks. Besides, he has an immense fondness for this planet that only Death herself rivals. It wouldn’t do to have them all wipe themselves out with his weapons.

Obie, of course, disagrees. Tony can sense the conflicting ideas floating around Obie’s mind, the poorly disguised concern a front for the greed and betrayal he hides behind it. Upon closer examination of his mind, Tony sees his secrets. Bribing the Ten Rings, building the Iron Monger, all of it. He sees the war in Obie’s heart. But Tony tells himself to wait, to let things play out.

His decision is reinforced when he easily hacks SHIELD and finds out about the close watch Agent Phil Coulson is keeping on him. It wouldn’t do for SHIELD to see him act on information he couldn’t possibly know yet, and he doesn’t want their suspicion on him. Tony likes being human, and he doesn’t want to have to abandon this body just yet.

Pepper is another story. She’s Tony’s closest friend, apart from Rhodey, and he thinks that in another life they could’ve been the perfect couple. But as it happens Tony doesn't feel that way about her, and he pecks an obnoxiously loud kiss on her cheek when she presents him with the original arc reactor in a box.

He rebuilds the armor, better, faster, and sleeker in every way. If Tony can't show off his powers as War, he'll sure as hell show off his powers as an engineer. And War or not, he's still the smartest man on the planet. The red of the suit makes him smile, but it does remind him that he needs to find a replacement for his horse sometime. When the presence of the Ten Rings in Gulmira is obliterated with the help of the suit, Tony decides the hands-on approach is much better than using his powers.

When the time comes for Obie to enact his plan, Tony sees it coming from a mile away. Obie steals the new and improved arc reactor straight from Tony’s chest and leaves after watching Tony’s skin get paler and devoid of life. After making sure Obie is truly gone, Tony drops the act and easily walks over to the arc reactor Pepper gifted him, patting DUM-E’s claw on the way. It's unnecessary for him to live, of course, but it does power the armor. He inserts the reactor, calls his suit, and grins when JARVIS informs him that the suit is on low power. Can’t make things too easy, after all.

During his final confrontation with Obie on the roof of the tower, he gets tired of the fighting, the pretending. He amps up Obie’s anger so much that Obie gets overconfident, overlooks Tony’s obvious plan to obliterate him with the tower’s arc reactor.

When everything is over and Obie is dead and gone – Tony takes a moment to pray that his sister throws the bastard in Tartarus – Tony pours himself a scotch and collapses on the couch in his workshop, sighing heavily. There’s a nasty gash that the armor scored in his side as Obie was trying to smash him into a pulp, and Tony didn’t have any time to heal it before the amassed SHIELD agents standing backup saw the blood soaking through his undershirt.

There are perks to having a mortal body, he decides, but not the pain. It's not like he can't handle it, but it's an unpleasant feeling. Usually he sticks to possessing the brain-dead or recently deceased, but this body is 100% Tony Stark, 100% his, 100% War. That means anything that happens to his body – pain, pleasure, being drunk – he can feel, unlike with his other meatsuits. Luckily healing isn’t a problem, and as Tony stands up to stretch the bruises and cuts fade into smooth, clear skin. Tony removed the shrapnel threatening to impale his heart a while ago, but decided to keep the arc reactor. He liked the blue glow it cast on his features, and SHIELD would surely question what happened if it suddenly disappeared.

The public dubs him Iron Man. Tony can see Agent Coulson at the edge of the crowd, clearly expecting him to follow the notecards. Rhodey’s at his side, with the same sentiment. Tony goes up on the pedestal, and, staring Coulson straight in the face, says those four words.

“I am Iron Man.”

The crowd erupts, and War smiles.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I changed a couple of tiny plot points from the Iron Man movies, which I hope worked with this story. There are probably some plot holes I failed to fix in this chapter, so if y'all have any suggestions/comments that'd be great.


	3. The Reveal; or, Tony Makes Pepper's Life Hard

Tony’s down in the workshop, lying flat on his back as he tinkers with the propulsion mechanisms in the Mark III’s boots. He’s also got the news running in the background, a steady stream of anchors on CNN debating his official reveal as Iron Man.

“Can we really trust the Merchant of Death with quite possibly the most dangerous weapon in the world?” asks a portly, white-mustached man.

“Oh, don’t lump me in with Death. I’d never work for her, no health benefits and all that,” Tony shouts from under the assembly machines, thankful that his warded-to-hell workshop means he doesn’t have to hide his identity from unwanted observers. Wait, Tony thinks, abruptly sitting up and nearly braining himself on one of the Mark III’s boots.

“J, buddy?” he calls.

“Yes, sir?”

“Daddy’s about to let you in on a little secret.”

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Sir, are you saying that you are the Biblical being known as the Horseman of War?”

“Uh, yeah?”

JARVIS is silent for a few moments. “I was wondering about the anomalies I detected on my systems.”

“What anomalies?”

“You gave me access to all the cameras in Stark Tower. The incident where Obadiah Stane removed your arc reactor and you didn’t die clued me in, Sir. But I trusted you would inform me sooner or later about things.”

Tony gets a little teary-eyed. “J, baby, I knew you cared. Your sarcasm needs a little bit of work, though.”

“Sir, I do have a question. From what I can extrapolate from Google searches about the Horseman of War…”

“No, no, no, I’m not going to herald the Apocalypse, J. This planet’s too entertaining for that.”

“And your true abilities, Sir?”

“Just wait a ‘lil. Daddy’s about to tell Aunt Pepper and Uncle Rhodey too, and they’re probably gonna have a fuck ton of questions.”

“Sir, my predecessor was much older than you.”

“Can it, J.”

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The phone picks up after the third ring. “Tony, what do you want?”

“What, like I need a reason to call the love of my life?”

Tony can almost hear the eye roll Pepper does on the other end of the line. “You never call without a reason. Now, spill.”

“Can you come down to the workshop in, say, an hour? There’s something I have to tell you.”

Pepper sighs, but in a fond way. “This better not result in another stock drop, Mr. Stark.”

“Oh, it’s nothing of the sort, Ms. Potts. Don’t be late!”

Then Tony dials up Rhodey, who’s still in town cleaning up the whole fiasco with Obie. Before Rhodey can even say a word into the phone, Tony starts with, “Rhodey, honey! Can you come to the workshop in an hour?”

Rhodey snorts. “Better be worth my time, Tones. The military’s still riding my ass about your press conference.”

 “Hey, any time spent with me is time well spent!” protests Tony.

“Yeah, yeah, shortstack. I’ll be there in a few.”

When Rhodey hangs up, Tony tidies up the workshop a little – wouldn’t do to have a mess when he has guests over – and then brews up a crazy strong cup of coffee with the machine tucked into the corner of the workshop. When it’s done, DUM-E picks it up and rolls it over to him on the couch. Tony pets DUM-E’s struts fondly, after which DUM-E does a beep and a little whirl, nearly smacking Tony in the face with his claw.

“Butterfingers, dear,” yells Tony, “could you grab me that scotch?”

Butterfingers beeps an affirmative and trundles over with the glass bottle carefully held in her claw, which Tony takes with a “Thanks, Butterfingers”. He pours a generous amount into his coffee and sets the bottle down on the floor beside the couch, cupping his mug and leaning back into the cushions. Taking a large gulp, he settles down to wait.

After a while Rhodey and Pepper arrive together, the doors of the workshop opening while JARVIS greets them with a “Good afternoon Ms. Potts, good afternoon Mr. Rhodes”. Tony sets down his coffee, propels himself off the couch, and turns to Pepper first, walking towards her.

“Pepper, Pep, Pepper Pot, love of my life!” he exclaims, and pulls her into a hug.

Rhodey’s next, and Tony wraps his arms around him while dramatically fluttering his eyelashes. “Honeybear, sweetie, _other_ love of my life.”

“Sit down, sit down,” he says to the both of them, guiding them to the ratty couch. “Don’t knock over my coffee mug, it’s on the floor.”

Understandably they’re very confused, but they wait for Tony to take the lead. Pepper’s legs are crossed and she’s watching him patiently as he fidgets in front of them, while Rhodey’s sprawled on the couch.

Tony decides to rip the Band-Aid off pretty quickly and says, “So, uh, I’m not exactly human.”

Rhodey says, slowly, “What…are you, then?”

“The Horseman of War. Like the one from the Bible, with the horse and stuff?”

Dead silence.

Then Pepper furiously says, “I knew you weren’t okay after Afghanistan! Tony, I told you to start seeing a psychiatrist!”

“No, no,” Tony protests, “I’m being super fucking serious, here!”

Rhodey catches sight of the half-empty bottle of scotch Tony left on the floor, and leans forwards to whisper, “Tones, man, have you been drinking?”

Pepper, of course, hears this and goes on a miniature rant about how she knows Tony’s still coping with Afghanistan and Obadiah, oh she knows, but he can’t just get drunk and make them come over to play make believe with him. Pepper and Rhodey team up and they keep spouting words of concern and confusion and at some point Pepper whips out her StarkPhone, so Tony knows he has to convince them fast. Goddamn it, he knows the whole “Horseman of War” thing sounds absurd, but he’s a _high-functioning_ alcoholic. He doesn’t start spouting crazy nonsense until his fourth bottle of liquor.

He pulls up the form he used to use to scare humans in the 1000s – skull-like helmet, glowing eyes, dark armor, big-ass sword, fiery-red skeletal horse, the whole shebang – and says, “Maybe you’ll like me more like this.” His voice is also different in this form, a gravelly growl that’s a far cry from his usual smooth baritone.

Pepper and Rhodey stop talking at once.

Tony shifts back, and doubles over, laughing. “…your faces, man! You believe me now?”

Pepper’s jaw is pretty much touching the ground, eyes wide and phone pretty much forgotten at her side, but Rhodey leans back into his original slouch and says, “Huh.”

Tony eyes Rhodey. “Huh? I really thought you were going to take that reveal harder. I mean, past the initial disbelief.”

“I’ve dealt with you since college, man, since _Iron Man._ At this point, nothing can surprise me. And you’re still Tony, aren’t you? Doesn’t change a thing for me.” Pepper’s somewhat recovered at this point, so she shakes her head and dryly chimes in with, “It’s not like you could’ve hidden this from JARVIS, and if he hasn’t tried to stop you then you can’t seriously be that bad.”

“Yeah, I’m still 100% me. Still Tony Stark. I was born into this body and life, but now I’m just…more. And no, I haven’t really been hiding it from you guys. I guess you could say I woke up during my vacation in Afghanistan?” explains Tony.

Wait, he thinks. Pouts. “Hey, I could be a mean Horseman if I wanted to, isn’t that right, J?”

“No, Sir, you really couldn’t.”

Tony’s about to get into an argument with J about his ability to be a villain when Pepper interrupts with, “But don’t you need a horse?”

“Changes with the times, baby,” and he winks after he nods to the blood red Lamborghini Aventador taking up the far left of his workshop.

Then his title must finally register in Rhodey’s mind, because he asks, “Wait. If you’re War, aren’t you responsible for, y’know…?”

Tony scoffs. “Fuck no, you humans do that shit to yourselves. I have the ability to do some pushing and pulling, but there’s no point in interfering. I could feed off teenage angst the rest of my existence and still be super powered. I don’t incite real war past what happens naturally.”

Rhodey nods, and Pepper practically facepalms. “Anthony Edward Stark, I put up with so much from you. Is there any part of my life that you _haven’t_ made into a shit-show?”

“Aww, sweetheart, you love me.”

“Unfortunately.”

Meanwhile, Rhodey picks up the bottle of scotch. “So, uh, can you still get drunk?” he questions.

“Y’know I’m pretty sure, but I haven’t really gotten the chance to test it out yet,” smirks Tony. He conjures up three glasses, and while Pepper and Rhodey still seem a little shell-shocked, they help him finish off the bottle.

And the next three.

Tony can definitely still get drunk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the next chapter, hope y'all like it! As for the relationship stuff, I think I'm going to hold off on that decision for a little longer, at least until I introduce the Avengers.
> 
> Comments and kudos are, as always, super appreciated!


	4. Chapter 4: Of Armors and Bracelets; or, Tony Tries to Help His Friends

They all wake up in various positions on the workshop couch the next morning.

Rhodey and Pepper groan, rather hungover, but Tony’s completely fine – his memory is kind of shot, though. He vaguely remembers drunk karaoke and something about using a discarded Iron Man gauntlet as a replacement microphone, so he asks J to save any video clips on the workshop cameras. Tony can tell his friends are scowling at his distinct lack of hungover-ness, so he gets up from his position draped over the back of the couch, circles around to the front of the couch where Rhodey and Pepper are lying, and pokes each of them hard in the forehead.

“Ow, what the fu-,“ Rhodey smacks him in retaliation, “-ck, nevermind, hangover gone, I love you.”

Pepper, on the other hand, just checks her phone – what a good CEO, he’s so glad he promoted her – and then jumps up, stalking towards the door and calling over her shoulder, “I’m late for a meeting! I’m hitting you later, Tony!”

Rhodey levers himself up off the couch, says, “I guess that’s my cue to go back to base. Tones, I’ll see you around. _Please,_ try not to fuck anything else up.”

Tony lazily salutes and shouts a “I never fuck things up!” at Rhodey’s retreating back.

Once they’re both gone, Tony does another scan of the universe to see what Jolly Purple Giant’s up to. He catches glimpses of a scepter, a prisoner with long black hair – Loki, his mind supplies – and electric green eyes giving way to piercing blue. It hasn't actually happened yet though, Tony realizes, and he guesses Father Time is feeling a little friendly with the information-giving today.

Loki’s a familiar figure to him, but Tony can’t put his mind on why.

Regardless, Thanos’s plan to have Loki lead the first charge against Earth is still a little ways away, and Tony is nothing if not a patient man.

SHIELD will take care of Thanos’s army, but War will deal with Loki.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Six months later, things are booming. The recently completed Mark IV handles like a dream, the Stark Expo is a success, and Tony’s privatized world peace. Ironic, he knows. When Senator Stern and Hammer – God, fuck Hammer - come for Tony, he loves it. The conflict in the air is delicious, and the way Hammer’s face turns purple when Tony hacks his camera footage is absolutely priceless.

Besides, Iron Man is his. Only his. Don’t let anyone tell you War isn’t possessive.

He also meets Natalie Rushman during one of his boxing matches with Happy. The second she speaks he knows she’s not who she says she is, senses the fake persona at war with her true nature. He’s begrudgingly impressed at how good her acting skills are, though, because her mind is nowhere near as conflicted as the minds of most people living double lives.

But what else could he expect from Natasha Romanov, the famous Black Widow?

He squeezes onto Pepper’s chair after he tells Happy to give Natasha a lesson, says, “Pep, where’d you find her?”

“Promising employee, why?”

“She’s definitely not what she seems.” At the same time Tony gets up, Natasha executes a perfect leg-lock double-spin takedown on Happy. Tony merely raises an eyebrow at Pepper before walking towards Natasha, who’s exiting the ring.

As he walks, he tugs down the collar of his sweaty hoodie to give himself some air. Natasha’s eyes widen almost imperceptibly when she sees the movement, and Tony looks down, curses internally, and pulls his collar back up as high as it can go. The effects of palladium poisoning weren’t enough to make a blip on Tony’s radar, even though he could sense the way his human body was uncomfortable with the element. But now that Natasha’s seen the black lines that accompany it, Tony definitely has to play it up. _And_ spend some extra effort developing a replacement for palladium. Ugh, fuck SHIELD.

He signs whatever Natasha tells him to sign, teases Pepper, “Still haven’t hit me yet,” and laughs when he barely dodges the arm that whips out with frightening speed.

Then shit happens with Vanko. Tony easily fights his way out of the Monaco fiasco, but during the entire time he’s consumed with worry over the mortal status of Pepper and Happy.

Afterwards, a quick dip into Vanko and Hammer’s minds shows him both of their hilariously divergent plans. There’s a simple way to solve things, of course, by using his powers to turn Hammer and Vanko against each other. But Tony knows that would come with so much more collateral damage and unnecessary guilt, especially with the armors that Vanko already has in production. For a second, he curses his human emotions.

So even though he knows he’s going to have to deal with Vanko and Hammer eventually, he doesn’t take any action. Instead, he busies himself with continuing to upgrade the suit.

He also gifts Pepper and Happy with some warded bracelets, so that he’ll know if they’re in trouble. It’s an occupational hazard. The bracelets are made of beautiful worn brown leather, charmed to be unbreakable, and both have a singular sphere of ruby set into them.

Then his mind turns to Rhodey, who’s always in far more danger than Pepper and Happy due to his job. Armor would be nice, he decides, but he can’t just _give_ Rhodey a suit because, duh, he just went on national television to say no one would ever have the Iron Man technology. So he gets wasted – but not really - at his birthday party, revels in Natasha’s longsuffering face when he exaggerates his drunk antics, waits for Rhodey arrive, and then turns the dial on Rhodey’s anger to the maximum setting. Rhodey plays his part perfectly by donning the Mark II armor to beat up Tony and then blasting out.

Later, Rhodey secretly drops by the workshop – although SHIELD is definitely keeping track of his whereabouts - and Tony activates his wards so that not even the strongest telepath or seer could eavesdrop.

Rhodey stops straight in front of where Tony’s sprawled on a chair, absently flicking through schematics. “You did that on purpose, you bastard, didn’t you?”

Tony tilts his head, smirks. “I’m just pissed that they chose Hammer to weaponize War Machine. Out of all people, c’mon!”

“War Machine? Oh, no, no, no.”

“Honey bear, it’s a catchy name and you know it. The suit’s for your protection, actually, not so the army can use you like their personal attack dog. Well, I guess they can. But it’s _mainly_ for your protection.”

Rhodey says, “Tones, what the hell am I gonna need protecting from?”

“There are some…things coming. Easy to handle,” he reassures, “but you know things never happen the way I want them to. Best laid plans, and all that. I just need to make sure you’ll be safe if something does happen.”

Ever the best friend, Rhodey just shrugs. He’s not going to turn down a free multimillion-dollar suit of armor, anyways.

Before Tony shoos Rhodey out of his workshop he also slips a warded bracelet around Rhodey’s wrist, this one with a red obsidian gem. Can’t be _too_ safe these days.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Part one of Iron Man 2 :) 
> 
> Thanks to everyone who's left kudos/commented! I always smile super hard when I see them.


	5. SHIELD; or, You Know Nothing, Nick Fury

Tony can tell that Dread Pirate Fury is gearing up for a meeting with him, so he decides to broadcast his location by going out for some donuts. As he licks sugary goodness off his fingers, he decides donuts are on his official list of “Earth’s Top Ten Best Inventions”.

When Fury calls him down from his comfortable perch in the fake donut on top of Randy’s Donuts, Tony reluctantly hops down and follows Fury inside. He senses Natasha lurking somewhere in the shop, which he chalks up to Fury’s desire to show off his power with a surprise reveal.

“I’m sorry, I don’t want to get off on the wrong foot. Do I look at the patch or the eye?” Tony deadpans, peering over the edges of his sunglasses.

Tony senses Fury’s annoyance grow, and after a couple lines of witty banter he sees Natasha approaching in his peripheral vision. Ah, finally.

He plays up his surprise at the reveal a little, maybe zones out when Fury starts lecturing him about the suit Rhodey took, but the widening of his eyes is real when Natasha says, “Well according to Mr. Stark’s security database guidelines, there are redundancies to prevent unauthorized usage.”

She’s implying that he let Rhodey take the suit on purpose, which, duh, is true. He just didn’t realize she was _that_ good with hacking. Time to upgrade his systems.

Tony sees the lithium dioxide injection coming from a mile away, and he doesn’t have to fake the initial flinch from the pain of the syringe. Damn human body.

But when Fury pushes a briefcase at him, Tony’s actually surprised to find relics from Howard Stark within. Him and Howard had never seen eye to eye, but Howard was still the father of his current body. For the first time since Tony’s been awakened, he feels a twinge of nostalgia for the first family he’d ever had, especially his mother.

Now that Fury and Natasha have gone to such lengths to help him, Tony figures he’s obligated to solve the palladium problem. His statement of “I’ve tried every combination and permutation known to man” was definitely bullshit – he hasn’t bothered at all – but thankfully, he knows elements the people of Earth could never even dream of.

The briefcase lies forgotten in the corner of his workshop, and he leaves the newly-created element unnamed. It’s not like human tongues could pronounce its official designation, anyways.

Once he’s inserted the new and improved arc reactor into his chest, he watches the lines of palladium poisoning fade away. Even though the cure has no effect on his health, he admits the cosmetic benefits are nice.

But at that point, he remembers Vanko and Hammer’s plans for the drones they’re building, which is happening…right about now. He curses and searches out Rhodey with his mind, only to find that Rhodey’s headlining Hammer’s presentation. So Tony suits up as fast as he can, landing in front of Rhodey, Hammer, a couple dozen killer robots, and the cheering crowd.

“Justin, Justin, Justin,” he points a finger, “you have got some explaining to do.”

At his side, Rhodey hisses, “Tony, what are you doing?” Tony, of course, ignores this.

Hammer spreads his arms wide. “Tony, just the man I wanted to see! You’re just in time to see the world’s newest era of technology come to light.”

Inside the suit, Tony rolls his eyes. “J,” he says, “Pull up that footage for me.”

“Yes, Sir.”

The screen behind the drones changes from an image of a waving flag to a grainy closeup of a man hunched over a computer, multiple screens flickering in front of him and a cigar held between two tattooed fingers.

“Ladies and gentlemen, the man you see before you is Ivan Vanko. Also known as an international terrorist. And supposedly dead, but surprise! My dear Justin Hammer over here has been secretly employing him to create these drones, which I think amounts to, oh, treason at the very least.” Tony announces.

“I – I don’t,” Hammer sputters, “These are wildly false accusations!”

Behind Tony, Rhodey crosses his armored arms. “I don’t think Tony’s faking this.”

Tony turns to beam at Rhodey behind his faceplate, but also takes the chance to turn up the anger in Hammer’s mind.

Hammer sneers. “Fuck you, Stark,” he says furiously, “I’ve had enough of you and your pretentious fucking bitch of a CEO – these drones are the key to destroying your empire, and who cares if I had to employ Vanko to do it? I only wish he killed you in Monaco to begin with!”

Pause.

“Oh fuck, what did I just say?”

Tony turns to face the crowd, about to give a there-you-have-it-I-told-you-so speech, but he’s interrupted by the noise of all the drones, plus Rhodey, moving to point their weapons at him.

“Tony, I can’t control the suit!” Rhodey shouts, panicked.

“Ugh, it’s gotta be Vanko.” Tony can at least return the use of Rhodey’s suit back to him, so he activates the bracelet he left on Rhodey’s wrist. Although neither of them can see it, Tony knows the now-glowing gem is passing energy through War Machine’s suit, enabling Rhodey to take back control. In Tony’s mind he can sense Vanko’s confusion, but it quickly turns into resolve as the drones start to lift off their stands.

“C’mon,” Tony yells at Rhodey, “Follow me!”

The two of them jet out of the Expo center, leaving a ruined Justin Hammer behind as the legions of drones follow them. Fortunately, Tony had built his armors to be way more streamlined and fast than Vanko’s drones, even with the extra weight of Rhodey’s added weapons.

They touch down in a currently-abandoned section of Central Park, and stand back to back. Even without any words, they work perfectly as a team to take down drones as they land around Rhodey and Tony.

Once the last drone is reduced to a smoldering pile of scrap, Tony’s exhausted but his adrenaline is at an all time high. He whoops and punches the air, yelling, “The hands-on way is really the best!”

Rhodey’s hunched over behind him, hands on his knees and pants audible through the suit’s voice modulator. “You really couldn’t have used some of your powers for that?”

“Honey bear,” Tony pouts, “Where’s the fun in that?”

Then Vanko lands in front of them. Deciding he’s entirely done with Vanko, Tony simply uses his telekinesis to flip the self-destruct switch in Vanko’s suit. Vanko’s suit locks up and its arc reactor starts flashing red, and Rhodey and Tony jet away from the singular explosion as Rhodey snarks, “What happened to not using your powers?”

“Are you telling me you still had enough energy to fight Vanko?”

“…fair enough.”

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In the aftermath, Pepper stays CEO because “someone has to handle your messes, Tony”.

Hammer, on the other hand, gets arrested and sentenced to a decent amount of years in prison. It’s no life sentence, but Tony’ll take what he can get.

Tony also has that talk with Fury about the Avengers Initiative. As much as Fury tries to bullshit him about his textbook narcissism – which, he admits, definitely exists – and his status as a mere consultant, Tony senses that the team is going to come together regardless. Besides, the less interaction with SHIELD, the better.

War Machine and Iron Man get their medals of bravery from Senator Stern, and Tony grins at the press cameras. He can already sense the media war that’s going to take place over his newfound status, and he loves it.

“Happy ending?” asks Rhodey as he throws an arm around Tony’s shoulders, guiding them both back to Tony’s private limousine.

Tony slips on his sunglasses, mind miles away as he watches Thor come crashing down in New Mexico, and says, “ _Very_ happy ending, indeed.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The events of Iron Man 2 are now finished!
> 
> Thanks to everyone who's commented and left kudos :)


	6. The Beginning; or, Infinity Gems Suck

It happens in the middle of a meeting.

Tony’s slumped over in his seat, eyes half-lidded behind red-tinted sunglasses as the man in the front of the room drones on and on about military contracts. Suddenly, Tony gets a metaphorical _ping!_ on the mental alert he set for anything related to Thanos.

He sits up in his chair suddenly and extends his senses, ignoring the side glances he receives from his fellow businessmen and women. He’s not surprised when he finds the source of the alarm.

Loki’s on Earth.

Tony knows that SHIELD’s had the Tesseract since day one of his awakening. And yes, he knows what they’ve been doing with it, but they’ve never come close to opening a portal. If Loki’s on Earth, that can only mean that Fury’s scientists have monumentally fucked something up.

Obviously, Tony can’t just teleport out his meeting, especially not with Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross, the current Secretary of Defense, staring at him. When he sees that Loki’s taken control of Agent Barton and Dr. Eric Selvig with the Mind Gem, he surreptitiously rubs his temples. _Of course_ Loki had to make things harder.

After he’s shaken off Ross’s multiple attempts to get him to build a Hulk deterrent for the Army – he’s never going to, obviously, Bruce Banner is a fellow scientist and that makes him dear to Tony – he dons the armor and takes off for Stark Tower.

On the way there, JARVIS says, “Sir, Agent Coulson of SHIELD is on the line.”

Tony touches down on the landing pad, robotic struts rising up to disengage the armor as he replies, “I’m not in. Actually, I’m out.”

“Sir, I’m afraid he’s insisting.”

“Grow a spine, JARVIS. Years of existence and you still can’t say no?”

Tony walks into the penthouse to see Pepper on the couch, watching the news.

“How did the meeting go?” she asks.

“The usual,” Tony bends down to kiss her on the cheek, “Build us weapons of mass destruction, please! They didn’t even acknowledge the fact that as of this week, Stark Tower is completely self-sustainable. Because of me.”

Pepper smiles. “No, because of me.”

“Yeah, actually, that’s true.”

“Sir,” JARVIS interrupts, “the telephone. I’m afraid my protocols are being overridden.”

Tony looks down to see his phone flashing with Coulson’s face. Groaning, he lifts his phone up and stabs the green answer icon. “You have reached the Life Model Decoy of Tony Stark. Please leave a message,” he says, trying to keep his face as straight as possible. In front of him, Pepper tries to hide her chuckle.

Agent Coulson drawls, “This is urgent.” Then, the elevator doors slide open, revealing the man himself.

“Security breach,” Tony pouts.

Pepper greets Agent Coulson with a warm “Phil!”, and Tony counters it with a “I thought his first name was Agent?”.

After a couple minutes of what Tony swears is flirting between Coulson and Pepper, Coulson proceeds to hand him – or, rather, hand Pepper – a tablet that Tony knows is definitely about the Tesseract. And the Avengers.

“Wait a minute,” he says as he holographically blows up the information, “ _Now_ you want me to join your super-secret boyband?” Hah, he thinks, he knew this day was going to come.

Coulson’s mouth twists and his eyes glitter with something indescribable as he says, “Agent Barton’s been compromised.” Tony’s suspicions about Coulson and Pepper being a thing are immediately nixed. Huh.

After a few minutes of pretend reluctance and a promise from Pepper that he doesn’t have to go to meetings for a whole three months, Tony agrees to help out. Coulson tells him he’s still technically a consultant, but Tony knows that consulting isn’t all he’s gonna have to do.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tony’s down in his workshop fabricating improvements to the suit and hacking SHIELD at the same time when he hears that Loki’s resurfaced in Stuttgart.

Even better, Natasha and Captain America himself have been sent to retrieve him. Tony hasn’t had the chance to meet Steve Rogers in person, but he’s interested in seeing what the man Howard had spent his entire life searching for is really like.

Luckily, he puts the armor back together just in time to reach Natasha and Steve in the middle of a fight, during which he hacks SHIELD’s coms again to play ACDC’s _Shoot to Thrill_. American classic rock is definitely also on the list of “Earth’s Top Ten Best Inventions”.

When he knocks Loki off his feet with a repulsor blast, Tony takes great pleasure in quipping, “Make a move, Reindeer Games.”

Tony takes even more pleasure in messing with Captain America on the quinjet. Steve’s briefing on Tony probably didn’t encompass the sheer amount of sarcasm Tony’s capable of, and Tony knows Natasha is rolling her eyes as she steers the quinjet.

Even before the lighting starts, Tony can sense Thor nearing. Either Thor smashes through the middle of the quinjet with Mjolnir or Tony lets him in, so Tony makes a smart decision and hits the hatch release button. When Thor drops in, grabs Loki, and flies off without another word, Tony sighs. Guess it’s time to play fetch. Before he can follow Thor in pursuit, Steve yells, “Stark, we need a plan of attack!”

Sliding down his faceplate, Tony replies, “I have a plan. Attack.” then jumps out into open sky.

It’s not hard to locate Thor, and Tony tackles him at maximum speed, crashing them both into the surrounding forest. Thor stands up slowly, and sure, Tony’s watched him in his visions, but seeing Thor’s outfit in real life sends him into fits of laughter.

“What is so funny, Metal Man?” Thor growls.

Tony strikes a pose, hips cocked and one arm leaning on a tree. “Doth mother know you weareth her drapes?”

Thor launches himself at Tony, who fights for a while before Captain America joins the squabble, and after a moment of awesomeness where Steve’s shield meets Mjolnir, they agree to a stalemate. Thor lets SHIELD take Loki prisoner, but requests they bring him in too.

Their whole entourage arrives at the helicarrier, Tony’s armor still sparking slightly. SHIELD agents swarm around Loki to take him to a specialized cell, and Thor follows his brother while Tony disappears into the helicarrier to change out of the suit and snoop around. By the time he’s done exploring, he enters the main floor of the helicarrier with Coulson just in time to hear Bruce say, “Iridium. What do they need iridium for?”

Ever the showoff, Tony interrupts with, “It’s a stabilizing agent.” He continues talking as he places a bug on one of the helicarrier’s monitors, and turns to beam at Bruce when he starts talking about the quantum tunneling effect.

“Finally,” Tony sighs happily, “Someone who speaks English! It’s good to meet you, Dr. Banner. Your work on anti-electron collisions is unparalleled. And I’m a huge fan of the way you lose control and turn into an enormous green rage monster.” In all truth, he actually is. Tony can feel the Hulk and Bruce’s personalities both fighting with each other in Bruce’s mind, and it’s fascinating.

Working in the lab with Bruce is also some of the most fun Tony’s had in a while.

The mood is killed when Steve comes to check up on them, though Tony, of course, ignores Steve’s comments and instead expresses his concern over the secrets Fury’s hiding. Even though Tony knows about Fury’s weapons program, no one will believe him unless he has solid proof, which is what the bug he placed earlier is working on.

Bruce actually backs him up – yay, science bro! – and Tony feels a bond blossoming between him and the other scientist.

Steve ends up leaving, but is replaced by _literally_ everyone else. Fury confronts him about the bug he didn’t even try to hide, Natasha tries to pressure Bruce into leaving, and Steve returns with proof about Fury’s Tesseract weapons before Tony has a chance to reveal his data. What a show stealer.

When Fury explains his reasoning, Tony is actually begrudgingly convinced. He is War, after all, and he knows the need to defend oneself.

The entire group still ends up arguing, and Tony can tell it’s the influence of the scepter innocently sitting in the middle of the room. The Mind Gem is out of his reach, however, one of the six objects that neither him nor his siblings can affect. On the bright side, it also means the Mind Gem can’t affect him. But when Steve sneers, “The only thing you really fight for is yourself,” Tony struggles to keep his composure. He spits out a response, and mentally chants _it’s the Mind Gem, it’s just the Mind Gem._

They’re still fighting when the helicarrier is rocked by an explosion. It’s Agent Barton, Tony sees, and he should’ve sensed the Tesseract’s energy nearing, but he was a little too preoccupied with Steve to do anything.

Everyone suits up – even Bruce, funnily enough – and Tony prioritizes everyone’s life by jetting off to fix the downed engine. Steve tags along to help, and despite the animosity that was previously brewing between them, they manage to work together just fine. Tony even uses his telekinesis to disrupt some of the bullets being aimed at Steve.

By the time the engine is stable, Thor and Hulk have long been thrown off the helicarrier, so there’s nothing he can do about that.

He does slip out of the armor, though, and sneaks around until he finds Agent Barton and Natasha trading blows. He ducks behind a multitude of pipes, peering through the grate of the walkway they’re on to watch the fight. When Natasha moves to slam Clint’s head against the walkway’s railing, Tony does a wave of his hand to put a little more force behind the movement. Clint’s out instantly, and Tony thinks the resulting concussion should be enough to knock out any remaining Tesseract energy.

Things finally calm down, at which point goddamn Fury throws Coulson’s bloody collector’s cards in front of Tony and Steve. He tells them Coulson is dead, but Tony knows he isn’t. He knows who enters his sister’s realm. But Tony keeps quiet, because he can’t mention the plans for Project TAHITI unless he wants Fury to go ballistic on him.

Nonetheless, the grief brings him and Steve together, especially now that Steve’s not being influenced by the Mind Gem.

Nobody has a clue where Loki has disappeared to, except for him. Oh, he knows perfectly well where he senses Loki heading towards. Goddamn it. So, he feigns thinking and says, “He wants a monument built to the skies with his name plaste-son of a bitch.”

Steve catches on, and they bolt out of the room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's Avengers timeeeeeeee!
> 
> To everyone who's given kudos and left comments - love ya :)


	7. The Avengers; or, Loki Has a Crazy Good Memory

By the time Steve and Tony grab Clint and Natasha, then race to Stark Tower, it’s too late. Dr. Selvig’s already stabilized the Tesseract, and all of Tony’s effort rebound when he tries to shut it down with both his repulsors and telekinesis.

Recovering, he looks down to see Loki on the balcony. Ah, he thinks, let’s try things a different way He disengages from the suit as Loki walks inside to meet him, both of them locked in some sort of stare-down.

“Please tell me you’re going to appeal to my humanity,” Loki drawls.

“Uh, actually I’m planning to threaten you.”

“Should’ve left your armor on for that.”

“Yeah,” Tony agrees vaguely. He doesn’t need the armor at all to wreck Loki, but Loki’s possession of the Mind Gem complicates things a bit.

He and Loki continue to argue – rather, sorry, Tony continues to threaten – as Tony surreptitiously puts on the arm bands that signal the Mark VII. He continues to try and persuade Loki into a tactical retreat, but it reaches the point where he gives up and shouts, “You’re missing the point. There’s no throne. There is _no_ version of this where you come out on top. Maybe your army comes, and maybe it’s too much, but it’s all on you. Because if we can’t protect the Earth you’ll be damn well sure we’ll avenge it.” It’s melodramatic, so sue him, but he’s fond of this planet.

Loki stalks towards him, all deadly confidence despite the fact that Tony can see his fingers tapping and fidgeting where he grips the scepter. “How will your friends have time for me, when they’re so busy fighting you?”

The scepter rises up to tap him on the chest, the Mind Gem powering up with a low hum. Tony’s unimpressed, of course, and Loki just seems bewildered when the scepter fails to work. Loki tries a second time.

“What are you?” Loki snarls.

“Uh,” Tony thinks, “genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist?”

Loki grabs him up by the throat, applying enough pressure to suffocate a normal human. “Don’t lie to me. It took me a while to realize – your suit must have amazing blocking properties, by the way – but I’ve felt your energy before. Your _true_ energy.”

Oh, shit. Now Tony realizes what Loki’s caught on to.

A long time ago, he’d had a brief stint in Asgard, in which he helped Odin win the first war against the Frost Giants. Ever so grateful, Odin had extended an invitation to him to stay for a while, which he accepted. His position as both guest and advisor in the royal Asgardian palace meant he spent a lot of time around the royal family. Thor wasn’t very inclined to the matters of ruling, so Tony hadn’t barely seen him, but Loki, ever inquisitive, had spent a lot of time around Tony.

That was a long, long time ago. Tony didn’t even look the same as he had before, but he’s guessing his energy signature is still similar enough that Loki’s magical aptitude recognizes it.

Tony grabs the wrist of the hand tight around his neck, and slowly squeezes until his fingers dent the metal of Loki’s arm bracers, the pressure forcing Loki to release him.

“Impossible,” Loki breathes out, then shakes his head. “It is no matter. Even you will fall before me!”

And with that, Loki gives him a massive push, enough to send him flying through the glass windows of the penthouse.

Why is this my life, thinks Tony.

Right before he starts freefalling, he yells, “JARVIS, deploy!”

The Mark VII assembles around him smoothly, just in time for him to prevent the civilians below him from becoming a splat on the sidewalk. He flies back up to the penthouse, where Loki is standing ready with his scepter.

“Oh, you just pissed off the big, bad wolf,” Tony growls, and his repulsor blast sends Loki flying.

He’s distracted, though, by the massive shaking of the portal activating. That can’t be good.

The wormhole opens up and out come the Chitauri, a race he’s familiar with – they actually worship him as a deity, but it’s not like he’s proud of that – and he gets to work decimating their soldiers.

He’s still keeping tabs on Loki, so he hears it when Thor confronts Loki and Loki spits out, “There is no stopping it! There is only…the war!”

For Christ’s sake.

Then one of the Chitauri warships comes through, and Tony leads it straight to the newly-arrived Hulk, who wrecks it. The whole squad is finally together, the Avengers united, but more and more Chitauri keep arriving.

“Call it, Cap,” says Tony. Even though he knows exactly how to win this battle, he’s interested in seeing how good a tactician Steve can be.

The Avengers return to beating up the Chitauri, while the Hulk goes after Loki. Natasha gains access to the portal with the scepter and yells about closing it, but Tony still has to handle the nuke that Fury’s just warned him about.

“No, wait,” he says, “I got a nuke coming in, it’s going to blow in less than a minute. And…I know just where to put it.

Tony takes the nuke and flies it up through the portal, directing it straight at the Chitauri base of operations. He has the brief idea to stay in space and finish the job because he knows Thanos is in the area, but he decides against it. Rhodey and Pepper would be sick with worry, and since the Infinity Gems prevent him from affecting Thanos directly, he knows having the Avengers as backup would be a better idea.

So he falls back through the portal just as it closes, and he thinks for a minute he might have to reveal himself by teleporting since his suit isn’t responding to his signals. Thankfully, Hulk jumps up to catch him, and he fakes waking up before asking, “What the hell just happened? Please tell me nobody kissed me.”

Steve looks off into the distance, says, “We won.”

“Great,” Tony thunks his head back onto the ground, “You ever try shawarma? There’s a good shawarma joint a few blocks from here.”

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Before they get shawarma, the Avengers apprehend Loki. Thor takes Loki and the Tesseract back to Asgard, but as they leave Tony watches how Loki’s eye unnervingly land straight on him, and he knows the god’s mouth is smirking behind his muzzle.

Tony invites the rest of the Avengers to come stay at the currently-renovating tower. He’ll make some living floors – customized for each of them - and Thor can have one too when he comes back.

There’s still work to be done, of course. New York needs fixing, the many-headed snake Tony senses lurking in SHIELD needs to be cleaned up, and Thanos is still on his way.

But for now, things are good.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So NOW we're going to start diverging from canon!


	8. Mandatory Movie Night; or, Death Thinks Tony is a Slacker

Thor strides into Tony’s kitchen booming, “Friend Tony! I have been instructed to inform you that you are missing out on ‘Mandatory Movie Night’!”

At the loud exclamation, Tony spits out the coffee he’d just taken a sip of. He still wasn’t used to Thor’s presence in the Tower, seeing as he’d recently returned from Asgard after declining to take the throne from Odin. Tony vaguely remembers a big story about elves and Loki and the Reality Gem, or something like that.

“I didn’t know that was a thing,” he says, after he recovers.

Grinning, Thor explains, “Clint thought it would be a beneficial idea to catch the good Captain up on modern Midgardian culture! I, myself, also find these things worthy of pursuing.”

Interesting. “Alright, Point Break,” Tony says, “I could use a break. Lead the way.”

He follows Thor down a couple flights of stairs to the floor that they all deemed the communal floor, and heads for the bar first while Thor goes to sit down. It’s dark, the room only lit by the light of the massive television screen, but he can still navigate easily. He empties his pockets – wallet, phone, various mechanical parts – on the countertop and pours himself a drink, taking in the sight of everyone watching the screen.

Bruce is sitting in an armchair, half paying attention to the movie and half paying attention to the tablet in his hand. Tony suspects it’s running diagnostics for his latest experiment, and shakes his head fondly as the fellow scientist.

Clint and Natasha are curled up around each other on the loveseat, with Natasha’s head on Clint’s shoulder. Even though they pretend to be a couple to mess with everyone else on the team, Tony knows they’re merely the closest of friends. He’s kind of jealous of them, actually.

Meanwhile, Thor has flopped down on a huge beanbag that Tony bought on a whim, and stretches out like a cat.

And ah, last but not least. Steve is the only one on the couch directly in front of the television, laying down flat, one arm over his stomach while the other hangs over the side of the couch. They’re all watching _The Iron Giant_ , and Tony is so, so, _so_ hoping that one of them sheds a tear during it.

As Tony sips his drink, he hears a tap and looks over. Through the glass of the nearby door leading to the balcony, he sees his sister with one hand on the pane. So he goes outside, ignoring the way Natasha sits up slightly and watches his movements.

Death follows him until he stops by the edge of the balcony, looking towards the skyline and resting both of his hands on the railing. His sister, on the other hand, leans her hip on the metal handrails, facing him. The rest of the Avengers can’t see her, only Tony.

“So,” she says, “How’s it going?”

Tony snorts. “You just wanna know why it’s taking so long to get Thanos off your back.”

“Wow, I’m offended you just implied that I don’t care about your wellbeing.”

Tony gives her a look.

“Okay fine, I’m getting real tired of him. _Oh Death_ ,” she mocks, “ _here’s an entire galaxy as a sacrifice. Please love me._ Besides, I was in town with my reapers collecting during the whole Chitauri fiasco, so don’t think I didn’t see you fly into that portal.”

Tony sags a little when she mentions the reapers, thinking of all the lives that were lost in New York City that day. “Slow and steady wins the race, Sis. I’d rather make things easier by having backup.”

“Ugh, please just get it done soon. But really, though, how are you?”

“Being human is…interesting. I’m still adjusting a bit, but I think I see why dear old God saw so much potential in these monkeys. I might even mourn the day I have to give up the Tony Stark gig.” He takes a moment to glance back inside at his team. “What about you?”

“Hmm, not much news. I’ll have you know that your favorite angel is out of his cage, though.”

“For real? Send Lucy my love, then.”

Death nods. “Sure thing, Brother.”

The two of them stand there for a minute, a comfortable silence between them before Tony breaks it. “Uh…how are Yinsen and Maria doing?”

“Aww,” his sister coos, “I’ve never seen you so emotional. They’re completely fine. Yinsen seems to be happily fitting right back in with his family.”

“It’s a side effect of the human-ness,” shrugs Tony, “you could try it sometime. But for now, I have to get back to the team for ‘Mandatory Movie Night’.”

“That sounds horrible.”

“Oh, it won’t be so bad. They’re watching _The Iron Giant,_ so I bet someone’s going to cry.”

Death claps a bony hand on his shoulder, says “Oh, I’ll take that bet”, and then disappears. Tony’s left leaning over the edge of the balcony railing by himself, contemplating the drink in his hand.

When he goes back inside, the movie’s around halfway through, and there are now multiple bowls of popcorn scattered around the area.

“What were you doing?” asks Natasha from Clint’s shoulder.

“Company business,” Tony says, “I was taking a call. Corporate bloodsuckers, and all that.”

Clint points at his phone, sitting on the bar’s countertop where he left it. “Well, you didn’t really have a phone to call with.”

“Uh, JARVIS was projecting for me outside. Weren’t you, J?”

“Of course, Sir.”

Natasha doesn’t look convinced, but she drops it as Tony walks over to the television area. After surveying his options, he shoves Steve’s legs off the couch, making space for him to sit, and scowls when Steve readjusts so his toes are digging into Tony’s thigh. Grabbing a bowl of popcorn from Thor - who’s practically eaten the whole thing - he takes a handful and stuffs it in his mouth.

Everyone is radiating contentment, and Tony thinks this is the first time he’s seen the whole team truly together. He’d honestly thought most of them just lurked on their own floors.

Even in a room of two super-spies, a super-soldier, a scientist with extreme anger issues, a god, and the Horseman of War, everyone tears up during the scene when the missile hits the Giant.

Thor actually cries.

Hah! His sister totally owes him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Everyone who's commented/left kudos -- love y'all!!!


	9. The Visit; or, Loki is a Dick

The next time the Avengers get called to action, there’s a motherfucking dragon. Although they’d been dealing with smaller villains on their own, this is the first time Fury’s called them in personally to take care of a problem.

The problem, in this case, seems to be a nearly indestructible 300-foot tall alien dragon.

“No one can best Fin Fang Foom!” the dragon roars. A couple of blocks had already been ravaged before the Avengers arrived, but Fin Fang Foom’s attention is now solely focused the heroes.

“God, what is it with ugly aliens and New York City?” yells Clint over the coms as he crouches on a nearby rooftop.

Tony soars overhead, targeting systems locked on Fin Fang Foom. “Beats me, Legolas!”

In actuality, Tony knows the exact reason Fin Fang Foom is wrecking his way through Manhattan. The natives of Kakaranathara, as worshippers of the war deity Krazanth – which is actually, uh, Tony – partake in a ritual of adulthood that involves conquering other planets. It seems to be bad luck, though, that this particular Makluan has chosen Earth to be its pubescent rite of passage.

Steve, although a god at hand-to-hand combat, can’t really do much to a mega-sized lizard so he stands next to Clint and Natasha, acting as a strategist. The Hulk is out cold in a pile of rubble, having been taken down by some blast from the dragon’s ship, while Thor is attacking Fin Fang Foom to no avail.

“Shieldbrothers,” Thor says as electricity sparks harmlessly over the dragon’s skin, “I do not think Mjolnir will be of any help.”

Natasha and Clint share a look before aiming at Fin Fang Foom’s mouth, Natasha with a Widow’s Bite and Clint with one of his taser arrows. The next time the dragon opens his mouth to roar, they both fire. The electric pulses hit Fin Fang Foom’s exposed maw and crackle harshly, causing a roar of pain. “There’s your in,” Natasha says. “His skin must act as a deflector, but past that he doesn’t have any protection.”

Then Fin Fang Foom grabs Natasha around the waist, huge clawed fingers wrapping around her body lightning-fast and squeezing. The dragon lifts her up high, roaring, “Desist, or I will crumple her into a ball!”

“Hey Nat,” Tony calls, “How’s it feel to be the princess?”

Natasha rolls her eyes, then performs a few quick movements. In a blink she’s freefalling towards the ground, one of Fin Fang Foom’s fingers sliced almost completely off. “Thanks for the catch, prince,” she says dryly when Tony swoops her up.

“Okay,” says Steve when Natasha gets dropped off next to Clint, “We’re gonna need a better plan.”

Tony spots a nearby girder balancing precariously on top of a high-rise, the roof half crumpled in from one of Fin Fang Foom’s swipes. The end of it is twisted together in a crude arrowhead shape.

“Hey guys,” he says, “See that steel beam right there?”

Like the best team ever, everyone quickly catches on to what Tony’s thinking.

After issuing orders over the coms, Steve sets his shield on his back and easily building-hops his way over to the girder. He hefts up the steel girder, balancing it on his shoulder, while Tony takes a moment to gawk at the way Steve’s muscles bulge out under his uniform. No, Tony tells himself, don’t go there.

It’s up to Tony to serve as a distraction, so he jets right in front of Fin Fang Foom’s line of view and yells. “Hey, dumbass! What backwater planet did you come from?”

“Our civilization is much more advanced than your primitive mind could comprehend,” snarls the dragon.

“Well, I don’t think you guys have anything like my suit.” Under the faceplate, Tony’s smile sharpens. “ _No one_ has anything like my suit.”

“You are but an insect,” roars Fin Fang Foom, “And by the time I am don- _ack!”_

And that’s when Steve drives the steel beam straight through his green, scaly, shoulder.

“Thor, you’re up!” Steve yells.

Thor takes a leap off the nearest building, Mjolnir spinning with a thrum in his hands, and brings down the hammer on the exposed part of the metal beam. There’s a _boom_ , a bright flash of white light, and then silence. Or, Tony thinks, silence accompanied with a sizzling noise. Fin Fang Foom isn’t dead, but the lightning conducted through the steel girder in his shoulder straight to his muscles means he’s now collapsed on the street, electrocuted as hell.

Thor flies Natasha and Clint down to street level, while Tony transports Steve. Bruce is waking up in a nearby pile of rubble, groaning and rubbing his head.

But before they can approach to secure Fin Fang Foom, a bright green light envelops the dragon and forces them all to shield their eyes. By the time the light fades, Fin Fang Foom is gone, and, in his place, stands Loki.

For a minute, everyone gapes.

Then Clint breaks the silence with a, “What the fuck, were you the dragon?” He’s got a well-hidden panic in his eyes, probably a longstanding effect from Loki’s mind control.

“No, you fool,” Loki rolls his eyes, “I have merely spirited the reptile back to his planet.”

Thor, who’s still standing open-mouthed, speaks up. “Brother,” he whispers, “I thought you dead.” Pause. “Again.”

“Thor, I think you of all people should know I never stay dead.”

“Why must you lie to me, Loki? I care about you!”

“I’m not the only one who lies,” Loki says, sparing a brief glance at Tony. Immediately, every pair of eyes focuses on Tony.

“Woah, crazy, don’t drag me into this. Family disputes stay in the family,” says Tony.

Sidestepping Thor, Loki picks his way over the rubble lining the street in order to stop in front of Tony. “Tell me, Stark. What are you hiding?”

“Uh,” he says, “A lot of things? Stark Industries has its secrets, you know.”

“It keeps nagging at me, this magical energy of yours. It’s just a mystery I _have_ to solve. Don’t tell me you’re ashamed of it, hmm? Anthony Stark, son of Howard Stark, and you’re afraid of your own power?”

Huh, Tony thinks. Loki recognizes his energy signature and assumes it’s from magic, which means he probably believes Tony either inherited it or stole it. Regardless, Tony’s eyes harden at the mention of Howard, and Loki misunderstands the reason behind it.

“Did your father know? Was that the reason he beat you as a child? Worthless, disappointment, _freak of nature?_ ” Loki sneers.

Steve steps forwards, shield at the ready, but Tony puts out a hand to hold him back. He’s not affected by Loki’s insults, but Loki’s strained words tell Tony that Loki himself is intimately familiar with what he’s talking about.

“You seem to be speaking from experience, Loki,” Tony says smoothly.

Loki growls, and before anyone can react, rushes forwards to clutch at Tony’s armored arms. “Tell me right now, Stark!”

“No,” Tony says, “I don’t think I will.”

Loki draws up to his full height, looking down at Tony. “I need to know.” Then, “Fine. I shall see for myself, then.” Loki holds up his right hand, flowing with green waves of magic, and plunges it straight through the armor and into Tony’s chest.

Tony lets out a horrible choking noise – who wouldn’t, at their essence being violated like that – and tries to activate the suit’s repulsors. The rest of the Avengers reach for their weapons too, lightning fast. But none of them can move a muscle, caught in a green haze of light that seems to stop their actions.

Loki’s magic is still rooting around in Tony’s chest, and he can feel his body getting weaker as Loki’s face gets more confused.

Alright, Tony decides.

Fuck it.

He rips Loki away using his telekinesis, holding him captive in the space in front of him. Tony readjusts his armor, freed from Loki’s control, and the other Avengers similarly shake out their limbs.

“I’ve existed much longer than your puny Asgardian pantheon, reindeer games,” Tony snarls, “don’t test me.”

Steve looks shocked, but Thor has dawning realization set upon his face, Mjolnir going slack by his side. Bruce is still disoriented as hell, but Natasha and Clint have their weapons warily drawn.

Tony ignores it all.

Loki gasps shallowly against the pressure coming at him from all sides. “You do not know what that energy signature means to me, Stark.”

“But I do know what your _seidr_ means to you.”

“I don’t believe it,” Loki breathes, “I thought I sensed the remnants of your magic, passed down through your ancestors. But it is _actually_ you, Tyr.”

“Losing that hand to Fenrir did suck.”

“How did you come to possess the body of Anthony Stark?” asks Loki, wonderous. All traces of possible homicidal mania are gone.

“I’m outraged that you would think me a body-snatcher, Loki.” Tony smiles beatifically. “There is no such entity as Anthony Stark.”

More confused than ever, the Avengers shift nervously and watch the entire interaction like hawks.

And so does Loki, as Tony announces, “There is only War.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Eep, I'm hoping this chapter made sense. I kind of wrote it super late at night, so let me know if there are any suggestions on things to fix/future events!


	10. Revelations; or, The Avengers Get an Explanation

The Avengers watch Loki cling to Tony like a lifeline, and both of them speak of things that make absolutely no sense.

“What the fuck,” Clint whispers to Bruce, who returns a bewildered shrug.

Meanwhile, Tony can sense SHIELD closing in on the entire party’s location, presumably to claim Fin Fang Foom. He most definitely does not want any more drama, especially with the mysterious disappearance of a dragon and mysterious appearance of a formerly-villainous god. His own drama is enough, thank you very much.

So, ignoring the clusterfuck of confusion that’s about to happen, he snaps his fingers and transports them all back to Stark Tower. Pepper is there lounging on the couch, and doesn’t even flinch when she hears the whoosh of displaced air behind her.

“Tony, I told you to stop doing-“

“-uh-“

“-that in the Tow-oh my God, you’re not alone.”

Tony shoots her a dry look. “Good observation, Pep.”

Everyone is still keeping their distance from Tony, Loki and Thor not included. Natasha looks like she’s about to murder him, and knowing Natasha, she could probably be able to find a way. Instead of dwelling on that thought, Tony strides towards the bar and asks, “Drinks?”

The Avengers glance at each other, then seem to all come to an agreement.

“I think we’ll need more than a single drink,” Steve says.

Tony shrugs. “Fair enough.” He opens the liquor cabinet and rummages around until he finds the bottle of vodka he was saving for later, setting it down on the counter. “Come on, then.”

The five heroes and one ex-villain warily take seats on the opposite side of the bar, while Pepper levers herself off the couch and comes to stand next to Tony, wrapping an arm around his waist. Tony himself leans against the countertop, conjuring up eight glasses and pouring a generous shot of vodka into each of them. Clint picks up a glass and, inspecting it from all sides, downs the entire glass.

“Okay,” Bruce says, “maybe I hit my head too hard when that dragon blasted me, but your Science Bro is going to need some explanations, like soon.”

Setting his vodka down, Tony looks them each in the eye. “Here’s the rundown. My name is War – like the Horseman from the Bible, mind you – and I’m currently living out my life as Tony Stark here on Earth. No, I didn’t steal this body. I chose to be born into it, Tony Stark and I are one, I’m still the same person, yada yada yada.”

“The Horseman War,” says Natasha dryly, “the bringer of fire and blood. Kind of fits the ‘Merchant of Death’ nickname, no?”

Tony makes a face. “Well, when you say it like that it just sounds bad.”

“But you do cause war, don’t you?”

Pepper steps in, ever the intermediary. “He doesn’t cause conflict, he embodies it. And it’s not just war, it’s any type of conflict, be it global, intergalactic, or even within yourself. Tony’s not good, or bad, he just _is._ World War II, for example,” she turns to look at Steve, “was in no part Tony’s fault.”

“But the lives that were lost-“

“Listen to me, Steve. You mortals,” Tony punctuates the point with a playful jab to Steve’s chest, “have the ultimate gift – _free will._ It’s one of the biggest perks of being human, apart from, y’know, sex and all that. But the point is, I haven’t gotten involved in major Terran conflicts _ever_ , not because I couldn’t have, but because it’s so much more interesting to see the choices mortals make for themselves. I may be the spirit of conquest, the spirit of exhilaration and pain and death and triumph, but don’t think for one moment that I am personally responsible for the horrors of mankind.”

Steve looks lost in thought for a minute, but when his eyes refocus on Tony’s, there’s understanding in them. Holy shit, Tony thinks, he’s not a moron. In thankfulness, Tony refills everyone’s glass.

“Okay,” Clint says slowly, “So you…reincarnate?”

Tony makes a noncommittal noise. “It’s more like I choose to take a mortal form sometimes. My true form can’t really be comprehended by any being save for my siblings, unless you want to die a particularly fiery and painful death.”

Thor speaks up. “And you had been Tyr in a past form, yes?”

“That was when I spent a few hundred years teaching this one,” a nod at Loki, “to control his _seidr_. If I recall, you, Point Break, spent all of those years fooling around with the Warriors Three. It’s no wonder you don’t remember me.”

“I vaguely remember,” Thor says, “but why did you not stay as Tyr? Everyone at court mourned you when Garm killed you.”

“Don’t get me wrong, I love Asgardians, but I’m older than any of you could imagine. Things get boring at some point, especially after spending a thousand years in the same realm. I orchestrated Tyr’s death so that those that were close to him could at least get some form of closure, y’know?” Again, everyone’s glasses are topped off.

Loki makes a pained noise. “You were my teacher, the only one to ever acknowledge my _seidr._ I never stopped mourning you! And when I caught wind of that energy signature, I just had to know, I had to-“

“-I know, child. I’m sorry.”

“I am no longer the weak-willed child you originally trained,” says Loki petulantly.

“If you were strong, then I don’t think you wouldn’t have crumbled to Thanos’s will so easily.”

Loki’s face turns a disturbing shade of gray, memories flashing across his face, then abruptly disappears.

“Shit,” Tony mutters, “I didn’t think he was going to be so sensitive about it. My bad, I guess.”

Thor sighs. “He will be back. Ever since the Asgardian Court held trial and released him from the influence of Thanos, he has had unpleasant dreams.”

“I’m not saying I like the dude – he’s still a dick, y’know? – but I think I can relate.” says Clint, his hatred seemingly lessened.

When Tony turns around to grab another bottle of vodka from the liquor cabinet, Pepper smiles and pulls his ear down to her mouth. “You should show them what you showed Rhodey and me,” she whispers.

“Uh,” Tony says, “That’s a scare tactic. I’m pretty sure they’d freak.”

Natasha interrupts them with a smirk, like this is just a normal day of domestic Avengers life and Tony hasn’t just rocked their world with a big ass revelation. “Hey, can we see your horse?”

“Have you _noticed_ a horse anywhere in my tower?” he throws his hands up, still holding on to the bottle of vodka. “Horseman’s a bit of a misnomer, really. We change with the times. Why do you think I favor that red Lamborghini so much? I’ll tell you, though, for a while me and my siblings got stuck with bicycles. Bicycles! Can you imagine?”

Bruce has to stifle his laugh, but fails spectacularly. Natasha’s question launches a whole new line of inquiry, of which the most notable is Clint asking how hot Death actually is. Tony slaps him on the arm for that one.

And after a couple hours of questioning, demonstrations of his powers, the reappearance of a disgruntled but okay-looking Loki, an apology from Tony, and an impromptu Mandatory Movie Night, things go back to normal.

Or, relatively normal.

 _Ah_ , Tony thinks, surrounded by his teammates as _Titanic_ plays on the television screen and he uses his telekinesis to grab them all beers from the kitchen, _what a wonderful life_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thoughts?


	11. The Prodigal Son; or, Tony Has New House Guests

The Avengers go back to being fairly domestic after the reveal, apart from minor villains that pop up from time to time. Steve’s patented Look-of-Disapproval usually takes care of the small fry, which Tony finds funny every time.

Tony also gives permission for Clint to tell Coulson and Fury about his little secret. He knows telling Coulson isn’t an issue for Clint, seeing as the two of them are pretty much a couple at that point. Coulson spends more nights on Clint’s floor than at his own apartment, and they’re disgustingly cuddly at the Mandatory Movie Nights that Coulson is present for.

To Tony’s surprise, the two upper-level SHIELD agents take the update pretty well. Coulson lets himself into Tony’s workshop – damn it, he still hasn’t updated JARVIS’s security protocols – and demands him show proof, which Tony gladly provides. Fury, on the other hand, simply pulls him aside after the next debriefing they have.

“Stark.” says Fury, crossing his arms as the rest of the Avengers file out the door.

Tony grins and mirrors Fury’s posture. “Fury.”

Staring at Tony for a solid minute, Fury lets out a sigh and rubs his temple. “Listen, whatever Agent Barton told me, I don’t care. You’re a threat to world safety regardless of whether you’re using your tech or your mumbo-jumbo voodoo powers.”

“Aww, Nicky, I knew you believed in me.”

Fury rolls his eyes. Or, Tony corrects, rolls one eye. “Whatever you do, Stark, keep this under wraps. If the WSC gets wind of _anything_ all of us are goners. You understand?”

“Don’t worry, I know. As a matter of fact,” Tony pulls a flash drive out of his pocket, “You might want this. Don’t worry about secrecy, the information on this will only reveal itself to you.”

“Voice recognition, fingerprint, retinal scan?”

“Nah, magic.”

Tony salutes Fury in farewell, sauntering out of the room. He’s actually surprised to see the Avengers waiting for him down the hallway, standing in various positions along the wall.

“Hey dumbass, what’s with the holdup?” Clint calls.

“Woah, shouldn’t Capsicle over there know? Super hearing and all that?”

Steve shakes his head. “That meeting room’s the most secure area in the whole helicarrier. Fury’s got it outfitted six ways to Sunday with anti-bug, anti-spy, and anti-listening tech.”

“Huh. Well, he just wanted to chat about the whole, uh,” Tony makes a poor imitation of a horse’s neigh, “thing.”

“Wow,” says Bruce, “I’m pretty sure even I could do a better job of a horse noise than you.”

To his right, Thor laughs. “I have never heard a horse in my time here on Midgard, but the noise Friend Tony made is not different from that of a bilgesnipe.”

Clint looks confused. “What’s a-“

“-Clint, _no_ -“

“-bilgesnipe?”

Natasha facepalms hard as Thor starts speaking delightedly. “My friends, let me regale you with some of my favorite tales! The bilgesnipe are ferocious beasts that possess great tusks of ivory and-“

Thor doesn’t stop speaking of the bilgesnipe until the Avengers finally reach the Tower and pile into the common floor, only to find Loki sprawled on the couch reading a book.

“Brother, I could hear you recounting tales of the Warriors Three from thirty floors down.”

Thor finally looks a little contrite. “Ah,” he says, “I may have been too enthusiastic.”

“No worries, big guy,” says Tony as he claps Thor on the shoulder and moves to flop down next to Loki.

Since arriving at the Tower and moving into his own floor, Loki has been much more stable. His nightmares come frequently and Coulson still minutely flinches when Loki makes any sudden movements, but things have been getting better since Loki somewhat-reluctantly apologized to both Coulson and Clint.

“What are you reading?” Tony asks.

Loki looks up from the pages in his lap and scowls. “Barton recommended a novel called _Fifty Shades of Grey_. I have not gotten far, but surely I hope not all Midgardian tomes are written as such.”

Tony chokes and whips his head around to glare at Clint, who’s in the kitchen with everyone else rummaging through the fridge. “Clint!”

“What can I say, it’s a literary classic!”

“Okay,” Tony snaps his fingers, “You’d like this a lot more.”

In Loki’s hands, _Fifty Shades of Grey_ is replaced by an old and worn copy of _Crime and Punishment_.

“When did you become an expert in Midgardian books?”

“Don’t forget, I still grew up as Tony Stark. Boy genius, hello?”

“He’s not wrong, it’s a good book,” says Natasha, flopping down beside them with a bowl of hummus in her hands.

Clint, Steve, Bruce, and Thor join them too. Clint stuffs his mouth with a handful of chips from the bag in his hand, which Natasha promptly takes. “And Tony’s definitely a know-it-all, so,” he mumbles around his mouthful.

“Ugh, whatever.” Tony says. He steals a chip from Natasha’s bag and chucks it at Clint, who retaliates by snagging chips from Steve’s bag and whipping them back at Tony.

The Avengers end up having an impromptu food fight while Loki watches passively from the sidelines. Steve deems it their training for the day.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Over the next few months Tony tries to concentrate on the projects in his workshop. Pepper is getting on his ass about the latest Stark Industries products, Rhodey desperately needs an upgrade to Hammer’s shitty weapons, and his own armor could use some magical protection. Apart from those things, he still has to build some new gear for the Avengers, as well as gift them with bracelets. Eh, he thinks, they’ve reached that level.

He’s on SI business in China when he hears about all the shit going down with SHIELD and HYDRA back stateside, and he smiles. Guess Fury did something with the information on that flash drive, after all.

The most interesting part is the Winter Soldier, a major blip on Tony’s radar. He’s never sensed anyone with that much conflict in their mind, a young World War II soldier’s mind at war with 70-plus years of brainwashed assassin. But if there’s anyone who can find Barnes and help him, it’s Steve. And that new bird guy, Sam Wilson.

Additionally, the whole fiasco with releasing SHIELD files means that all the agents in rough positions were compromised. So, Tony visits all that he can with the help of the armor and assists Coulson with extractions.

“Doing good, Agent Coulson?” asks Tony through the suit’s voice modulator.

Coulson flicks a bit of viscera off his gun and herds the undercover scientist they just rescued from AIM towards a nondescript van. “Y’know, after all the shit that we’ve been through, I think we can go by first names.”

“Alright,” agrees Tony, “Phil.”

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

When Tony gets back home and strolls into the common floor with a “Honey, I’m home!” he’s greeted with the solemn faces of Steve, Sam Wilson, and one amnesiac super-soldier.

Steve jumps off his chair a little too enthusiastically. “Tony! Natasha told me you were on your way home, and, well, I thought that it would be good to-“

“-yeah, yeah, Cap, I know.” Tony strides past Steve to shake Sam Wilson’s hand first. “Nice to meet you, Sam. I hope you’ll let me take a look at those wings of yours – old Stark tech, if you haven’t noticed – because I could work wonders on those, lemme tell you.”

Sam smiles widely, a gap-toothed grin. “I would be happy to, Mr. Stark.”

“No, no, no,” Tony makes a face, “Mr. Stark was my father. Tony is perfect.” Then he turns to Barnes, who’s standing in silence staring at him. “Hey there, soldier. What do I call you?”

Barnes looks taken aback, and Tony realizes that no one’s bothered to ask who Barnes identifies as. Knowing Steve, he’s probably just been calling him Bucky despite the fact that he’s obviously a different person.

Blue eyes lock on to brown as Barnes mumbles, “Bucky will do.” He doesn’t look particularly sure of the name, but hey. If he wants to go by Bucky, then Tony will call him Bucky.

“Well, Buckaroo, I’m assuming that you and Falcon over here will want to stay in the Tower. I’ve already got floor plans drafted up, so construction will be underway soon. And don’t worry about decorating, I have impeccable taste.”

“Woah, Mr. Sta-Tony, I-we can’t-“

Tony waves Sam off, says, “You fight alongside Steve, then you’re an Avenger. And the Avengers always have a place in Stark Tower.”

Sam starts to speak up again but Tony levels his best glare at him until Sam snaps his mouth shut.

“J?” calls Tony, “Can you show Bucky and Sam to some of our guest rooms?”

“It would be my pleasure, Sir. If you gentlemen would come with me?” Across the room, the elevator doors slide open with a ding. Sam shoots a look at Tony and Steve and seems to get the hint, so he drags Bucky with him towards the open doors. Bucky follows willingly enough, so Tony figures that Bucky and Sam have spent enough time together for Steve to be comfortable leaving the ex-assassin alone with the veteran. Besides, if anything happens, JARVIS is there to interfere.

When the two are gone, Tony turns towards Steve. “So, what’s the stitch?”

“I understood that reference,” says Steve. “Bucky’s been here a week or so, ever since I found him in an old HYDRA hideout. Whatever happened during the fight he and I had on the last Project Insight helicarrier must’ve knocked something loose, because he shook off the brainwashing pretty quick. It’s the memories that need work. Do you think you can help with that?”

“Maybe, but I might have to call in an old friend. Do he and Sam know about…?”

“No, I wanted to respect your privacy. But if they’re gonna live here, they should probably know, right?”

“Aww, Captain America’s protecting my virtue. You can tell Sam, but I’ll handle Bucky myself.”

“Roger that.”

“Okay, go babysit. You all decided to ambush me right when I got home – dick move, by the way – so I need some me time to get my things in order.”

Steve tosses him a salute before he walks towards the elevators, JARVIS conveniently opening the doors for him. Meanwhile, Tony walks down the nearby flight of stairs to the entrance of his workshop, throwing his stuff down and collapsing in the nearest chair.

After he gets rid of all the holographic clutter on his work desk, he sits for a moment, staring at the neat blue lines pulsing and moving in front of him. His mind ends up drifting towards Bucky, the way his mindscape had looked like a literal nightmare when Tony took a tiny peek. Even physically the man looked rough, with his matted hair and dented arm…

Tony suddenly sits up straight. He can’t help with the memories immediately, but there _is_ something he can do for Bucky.

He pulls up a new project folder, and gets to work.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments and kudos are, as always, super appreciated!!!!!


	12. Integration; or, You’re a Real Boy, Bucky Barnes!

A mere three days later – Tony still maintains that he’s still a genius engineer, thank you very much – a gleaming masterpiece sits completed on the table of Tony’s workshop. The light shines off burnished silver plates, each one crafted for maximum movement and sensation. Under the plating is a miniature arc reactor powering the whole contraption, as well as a vast network of miniscule wires that act as replacement nerves.

Very nice, Tony thinks as he steps back to survey Bucky’s new arm. “J,” he calls, “Can you call Bucky and see if he’s free to come down to the workshop?”

“It would be my pleasure, Sir.”

A beat.

“Mr. Barnes is currently in the gym with Mr. Rogers. He would like me to inform you that he will be right down,” says JARVIS.

“Thanks, J.”

As Tony waits, idly spinning in his chair, he thinks about all that’s happened since Bucky and Sam were introduced to the Avengers. Sam fits in with everyone else easily, and, surprisingly, so does the quiet ex-assassin. Tony finds himself enjoying the quiet quips that Bucky’s made during their first Mandatory Movie Night.

Soon, the doors to the workshop slide open and the aforementioned man strides in. “Heard from a little birdie that you had a surprise for me, Stark.”

“First of all, it’s Tony. Second, _goddamn_ Steve, that man can’t keep his mouth shut for _three days_?”

Bucky grins and Tony’s heart stutters because wow, he’s never seen Bucky smile. The man looks surprisingly good when he’s not brooding in the corner of the room with a scowl on his face.

“Anyways,” Tony continues, “I have this for you.” He points to the tech sitting on the table in front of them and plows on despite Bucky’s incredulous stare. “State-of-the-art Stark tech, at your disposal. Should be an exact match to your other arm, same motion range, same sensory capabilities, same everything.”

“Tony, I can’t-“

“Yes, you can. I know what it’s like to have a part of you be used as a weapon.” He thinks back to not only Obie stealing the arc reactor and using it to power Iron Monger, but also the countless civilizations that commit atrocities in his name. In the name of War. “And I also know what it’s like to take that part of you back and use it as your own.” The bright gleam of the arc reactor in the Iron Man armor is proof of that.

Bucky looks down at his hands, one flesh and one metal, and then looks Tony in the eye. “Alright,” he says.

So Tony installs the arm in a particularly pain-free process, cutting the wires connecting Bucky’s shoulder port to the old arm and soldering in connections to the new one. When he’s done, Bucky rotates his arms in sync, stretching and feeling around, gaping at the efficiency of his new limb.

“Now that that’s done,” says Tony as he leads Bucky by the hand towards a cleared area of the workshop, “Let’s really test it out.” He adopts a loose fighting stance, bouncing on the balls of his bare feet and grinning at Bucky.

Bucky raises one eyebrow. “I could seriously injure you.”

“Maybe, maybe not. Why don’t we find out?”

Shrugging, Bucky makes the first move and suddenly swings at Tony with his new limb. Tony, having seen it coming from a mile away, easily ducks and returns an uppercut. A short flurry of blows later, Bucky is flat on his back on the floor and Tony is standing above him holding out a hand.

“What the fuck?” mutters Bucky as he takes Tony’s hand and levers himself off the concrete floor.

Fuck, Tony almost facepalms. He completely forgot to tell Bucky about the whole “Horseman of War” thing. “Well,” he begins, “I’m actually not human. I’m-“

“-some Biblical being, yeah, I know.”

“You do?”

“I overheard Stevie explaining some things to Sam that made no sense at the time, but I guess they sort of do now.”

“Horseman of War, powers, I’m not a fucking evil dude, everything?”

“Pretty much.”

“Goddamn it,” hisses Tony, “I was looking forwards to freaking you the fuck out. I hate you.”

Bucky grins. “No you don’t, you made me a new arm.”

Tony decides he wants to get to know this man, this soldier of an unimaginably painful past, better. “You’re right. Wanna go get shawarma?”

But as Lady Fortune has it – she really hates him, has ever since he stole her wheel that one time – that’s the exact moment the Avengers alarm starts blaring. Bucky’s not technically part of the Avengers yet, so he looks at Tony and says, “Go. I’ll be fine.”

Tony nods, then calls the suit to him and jets off into the New York City sky.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

When Tony lands somewhere in Central Park, Steve, Clint, Natasha, Thor, and Bruce are already there. Sam and Loki are still back at the Tower with Bucky, seeing as they aren’t officially Avengers either.

In front of the group stands a blue-haired, blue-skinned woman wearing an elaborate headpiece. Her left arm is solid gold machinery, holding a spear with a wickedly sharp tip. “This planet is so…primitive.” she drawls.

Steve steps forwards confidently, Tony at his shoulder and the rest of the Avengers behind them. “Who are you and what is your business on Earth?”

Blazing white eyes land on the group. “I am Proxima Midnight, of the Black Order and messenger of Thanos.”

What the fuck, Tony thinks, why didn’t I detect her coming?

Before he can speak up and say anything, Proxima Midnight holds up her right hand to reveal a gleaming stone. The Soul Gem. “I am here to obtain a stone like this on Earth.”

Oh, that’s why he couldn’t sense her coming.

“The scepter,” says Clint from behind Tony.

“The one,” continues Natasha, “that HYDRA made off with during the SHIELD file dump, you mean.”

Proxima Midnight smiles, a gleam of horribly pointed teeth. “The stones call to one another, silly mortal.” In her hand, the Soul Gem pulses brightly, and out of nowhere Loki’s scepter appears. With it comes two disoriented people, one a woman wearing shades of magenta and the other a man with a silver shock of hair. “Ah,” sighs Proxima Midnight, “The Mind Gem.”

“Okay guys,” Tony calls, “I don’t know who the newcomers are, but we gotta get those gems away from her. As long as she’s in possession of even one I can’t affect her.”

The Mind Gem, surprisingly, is quickly taken care of by the silver-haired man, who disappears in a blur and reappears back next to the woman’s side with the glowing blue stone clutched in his fist. Huh, superspeed. The man then grabs the woman and whips them both a safe distance away.

Before Proxima Midnight can go after them, Thor distracts her by throwing Mjolnir at her as hard as he can. Immediately the fight starts up, the entire team trying to dodge both the magically-replenishing spears Proxima Midnight throws at them and the blasts she fires from the Soul Gem. Bruce hulks out, and starts knocking spears out of the way before they can hit their intended target.

Suddenly, one of the beams from the Soul Gem catches Hulk on the shoulder. The Hulk stands stock still for a second before collapsing on the ground, green skin rapidly shrinking and returning to a normal color as Bruce Banner reappears.

“Shit,” Tony swears, and flies over to swoop Bruce up and deposit him somewhere safe. By the time he returns to the battle, Proxima Midnight has the upper hand and is putting everyone on the defensive. Steve especially is trying to avoid the Soul Gem’s light, because if it reverted the Hulk back into Bruce it can surely revert Captain America back into the pale, sickly, underweight Steve Rogers.

“Hey guys,” buzzes Clint over the coms, “We’re getting our asses kicked.”

Natasha grunts as she flips over a spear and lands a kick on Proxima Midnight to no effect. “No shit, Sherlock.” She dances out of range of Proxima Midnight’s counterattack, then adds, “I know she’s not from Earth, but her arm still looks like standard machinery. And if it’s machinery-“

“-then a large amount of my lightning will be able to disable her arm,” concludes Thor.

Steve nods and holds up his shield, facing Thor as Clint, Natasha, and Tony continue to distract Proxima Midnight. Thor gets the gist quickly, and starts spinning Mjolnir as fast as he can. With a powerful leap and a roar, he brings the hammer down on Steve’s shield right as Proxima Midnight turns to look in their direction.

Before her eyes can even widen, a deafening blast echoes throughout the park, accompanied by a surge of crackling electricity that arcs in domes around the fight. One tendril directly hits Proxima Midnight, who immediately moves her right arm to grab at now-limp left arm. Natasha takes the split-second chance to whip a knife at Proxima Midnight, which severs the hand holding the Soul Gem with a sickening sound. One of Clint’s netting arrows wraps around the disembodied hand and carries it until the arrow’s point thuds into the grass a good couple of meters away.

“No!” screams the alien woman, moving towards the downed gem. Before she can take more than a few steps, though, Tony reaches out with his hand and _twists_ , watching as her body shrivels and her life force seeps out of her. Before long, Proxima Midnight is a husk of a corpse, and Clint has jogged over to pry the Soul Gem out of her severed hand.

“Holy shit,” exclaims Clint as he waves the stone at Bruce, who’s gotten up and just joined the group, “now your powers won’t work on me-“

“-Clint, I swear to God-“

“-which means you can’t magically prank me anymore! Hah!”

Tony rolls his eyes and sends Proxima Midnight’s body back to Thanos with a snap of his fingers. That should send a good message, to both Thanos and Corvus Glaive. Honestly, Tony thinks, in some ways Corvus Glaive is even more of a dick than Thanos.

But before Tony can snatch the Soul Gem from Clint and slap him on the head, the team is interrupted by a sudden whoosh of air that deposits the man and woman from before right in front of them.

The Mind Gem’s blue magic weaves together with red magic as the woman speaks up in an accent, eyes narrowed. “Who the hell are you all?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I'm not on my usual schedule of quick updating! I actually just started a new job, which is kind of stressful, so I haven't had a lot of time for writing. 
> 
> Comments and kudos are always loved!

**Author's Note:**

> I couldn't help but notice the similarities between Tony Stark and the Horseman of War. War rides a red horse, and is sometimes known as the bringer of civil war (*cough cough*). In addition, Tony's nickname is the Merchant of Death, which he got selling weapons of war. I'm not making Tony a "bad guy" in this, of course, but rather a misunderstood mythological character, much like the Asgardians. 
> 
> I'm rather new at writing, so any comments/kudos/suggestions are appreciated!

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [And Hell Followed with Him](https://archiveofourown.org/works/13279956) by [Guntz](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Guntz/pseuds/Guntz)




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